


one day you will (come home)

by snowandfire



Series: fathers and sons [1]
Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Angst, Father Figures, Father-Son Relationship, Fatherhood, Gen, Iroh (Avatar) is a Good Uncle, Iroh (Avatar) loves Tea, Ozai (Avatar) is an Asshole, POV Iroh (Avatar), Regret, Ursa (Avatar) is a Good Parent
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-18
Updated: 2020-11-18
Packaged: 2021-03-09 18:28:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 846
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27620684
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/snowandfire/pseuds/snowandfire
Summary: [Iroh is not there when his first son is born. He’s nearly three thousand miles away in Bangkok. Dressed in an uncomfortable suit and tie, desperately missing his wife and his second home in Tokyo. Wanting to be with his pai sho, his tea, and his soon-to-be-born son. Ren isn’t due for another two weeks. He’s asked more than once, to be allowed to go back to be with her, but is never given leave]OR: iroh and his father, and iroh and his son(s)
Relationships: Azulon & Iroh (Avatar), Iroh & Lu Ten, Iroh & Ozai (Avatar), Iroh & Zuko (Avatar)
Series: fathers and sons [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2019398
Comments: 11
Kudos: 70





	one day you will (come home)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [thehotzone](https://archiveofourown.org/users/thehotzone/gifts).



> “Every father should remember one day his son will follow his example, not his advice.” –Charles Kettering

Iroh is not there when his first son is born. He’s nearly three thousand miles away in Bangkok. Dressed in an uncomfortable suit and tie, desperately missing his wife and his second home in Tokyo. Wanting to be with his pai sho, his tea, and his soon-to-be-born son. Ren isn’t due for another two weeks. He’s asked more than once, to be allowed to go back to be with her, but is never given leave. 

There are many excuses given. This deal is a big one for the family company, for his brother, Ozai. Their own father, Azulon, had not been present for most of their childhoods, and they turned out fine, didn’t they? That’s what Ozai says, dismissively, as Iroh paces the conference room, anxious for word from the hospital, hating himself. Ren goes into premature labor. Ozai is more concerned about the deal on the table, about negotiating strategy, while Iroh’s child comes into the world without his father beside him. 

Lu Ten is born underweight, and barely survives his first six hours. Ren is distraught and tense and crying for him to come home. Iroh resigns the next day. He regrets not having been there for the rest of his life. 

When Zuko is born, Iroh _is_ there. He makes sure to be. Ozai is away on business. But Ursa seems to have a less anxious delivery with him not around. Iroh is the second person to hold him. He’s red faced and small, and perfect. Iroh wishes his younger brother was here to see this. Maybe some dormant paternal feeling would awaken. How could it not? Iroh knows he’s only the boy’s uncle but he knows he would do anything for this child, protect him as if he was his own. Even Ozai couldn’t be immune to that, the rush of emotion when Zuko, eyes still tightly shut, reaches out with his tiny fist and holds Iroh’s finger. The weight of Zuko, tiny and helpless in his arms. Could he? 

“Are you the baby’s father?” a nurse asks, with a polite smile. 

Ursa looks pained as she looks on, her hair is damp and she looks a bit shaken. Iroh notes how the sweat sticks to her skin. If he were her husband he would have brought a cool washcloth to her and wiped it, gently, from her skin. Her husband should be here. He isn’t. 

“Oh no,” Iroh mentions, cooing at Zuko, “I am his Uncle.” 

* * *

When Lu Ten is eight, and Zuko is one, Iroh moves to America permanently. He doesn’t work for the family business anymore. Ren died when Lu Ten was three, and he tries not to think of her. Without her, there is no home for him in Japan anymore. His father, who’s lived in America for years now, is in ill-health. Iroh does as any dutiful son would. He goes to him. 

He stays by his father’s bedside and talks to him. In his old age, his father starts to change. He asks to see photographs of baby Zuko. He asks to hold Lu Ten in his lap and tell him stories. It’s a far cry from the stone-cold business magnate Iroh knew in his own youth. Lu Ten listens to the old man talk very sincerely. He calls him _Ojisan_ , and promises to be a good boy, always listen to his father, and do well in school. Iroh loves his boy so much. 

Azulon is more weak and frail than Iroh can ever remember him. But he asks every day for Ozai. Persistently, and determinedly. Iroh grows tired of giving excuses. He knows Ozai will not come to see their father, even as he’s dying. But he promises Ozai will come soon. It’s a lie. But a harmless one. He wouldn’t give more pain to a dying man. 

During the next few months Azulon starts to forget. He stops eating most solid foods and stops going on the short walks around their home. He stops speaking any language except Japanese. He doesn’t have the energy to tell Lu Ten stories anymore. Once, he seems to forget who Lu Ten is. He turns the boy’s face towards him and calls him ‘Ozai’. He looks lost and scared in the face of mortality. He asks for his wife, Iroh’s mother, long-dead. Somehow, Iroh manages it. Doctors, nurses, check-ups, visits, second opinions. Bedside vigils and forgiveness. 

“I know I could have been a better father, I was not,” Azulon says on the last day. 

“You did what you could, it is alright,” Iroh says, taking his father’s hand, “You are my father. And I am your son.”

That night Azulon passes in his sleep. Ozai comes for the reading of the will. Iroh is left to arrange last rites. He has to explain death and loss to Lu Ten. He has to try and understand it for himself. He’s a lonely man now, having gained a father and lost him in a matter of months. All he has is his son. And the regrets that stay with him. 

**Author's Note:**

> currently on hiatus, but @bluberry-spicehead is my tumblr :)))))


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